BURY ABC’s Muhammad Ali and Zahir Iqbal suffered heartache at the European Junior Championships after both young boxers were knocked out in the early rounds by eventual gold medal winners.
Ali, aged 16, made the trip to Sofia in Bulgaria on the back of a great international win over Jason McKay in an England v Ireland match.
And he looked to have carried that form into the Euros after edging the first round of his first fight against Bammatov Suleiman – the pre-championship favourite in the 48k division.
However, the Russian came back into the bout, which ended 15-15 and the judges awarded him the victory on countback.
Ali’s disappointment was compounded when Suleiman went on to beat McKay in the final.
Iqbal, also 16, fared slightly better, beating Croatian Kunic Luka 15-5 in his opening match. But he was knocked out of the championships in the second round by talented Azerbaijan fighter Ibrahim Zade, who won their bout 10-5 and went on to claim the 58k title.
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